New signs warn park users of potential owl attacks

Ever had a barred owl attack you while you were jogging in Bush’s Pasture Park in Salem? Now signs will warn visitors of the possible threat.

The signs were posted by the Salem Parks Operation Division on Feb. 12 after MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show featured several of the attacks on Feb. 5.

The show’s producers helped to design the signs, then sent them to the city of Salem, which plans to put up about twenty signs. Each sign has a sticker on the back thanking the show.

“We’ll put them by a nest on Mission Street, as well as upper and lower Leffelle Street and then sprinkled throughout the rest of the park,” John Kleeman, a parks operations supervisor, said. “We want to place them in spots where they’ll be most effective.”

“We do what we can to help nature in the parks,” Kleeman said. “We love to celebrate nature when it intersects with the urban community.”

“We debated about the size of the signs for a while, but they’re pretty much just like the ones on the show,” Cliff Bash, another park employee, said. “We got the rights and permission for the show to use the design — it’s pretty neat that we’re doing this actually.”

Will the signs be effective? One of the owls’ victims, Brad Hilliard, seems to think they will. “I might of kept a closer eye on my hat if I had seen that sign!” Hilliard said.

Besides writing, R. McKinley loves reading (especially historical fiction and science books), playing piano and flute, being involved in politics and community, working out, enjoying nature, and hanging out with four wonderful cats.